Building thriving communities
Fortescue is guided by the philosophy of partnering with the communities that host our business activities. Our goals are to obtain and maintain community support, foster thriving communities, and leave a positive project legacy. We seek to avoid harm and mitigate negative impacts, while building our social license to operate, respecting local communities and human rights.
We work towards these goals through applying core social performance management principles based on international industry good practice. These principles are outlined below and in our Community and Social Performance (CSP) Standard. The Standard sets out our global approach to managing social performance throughout the project lifecycle. It builds on our commitments such as those within the Fortescue’s Human Rights Policy.
Building and Maintaining Stakeholder Acceptance
Our aim is to obtain and maintain broad community acceptance and trust. To do this we conduct effective, locally appropriate and sustained engagement. We know who our stakeholders are, what they value and expect and engage communities how they want to be engaged. Our approach is transparent, participatory and inclusive. When appropriate, we adopt Informed Consultation and Participation approaches and seek Free, Prior and Informed Consent where we may impact Indigenous Peoples.
Managing Social Impacts and Risks Effectively
It is critical that we manage our direct and indirect impacts on communities and the environment on which communities often depend. We do this by adhering to national regulations and international lending guidelines like those of the International Finance Corporation.
Our approach involves identifying our social risks early, and undertaking fit for purpose impact assessments and specialist studies as required. We implement management practices that aim to avoid or mitigate impacts throughout the entire project lifecycle. This approach allows us to monitor, evaluate, and enhance the performance of our projects, ensuring that we support the development of sustainable and thriving communities.
Supporting thriving communities
Our community investment approach is tailored to reflect specific projects circumstances and community needs. We partner with credible, local organisations and prioritise locally appropriate capacity building initiatives that foster sustainable community development.
We implement Community Investment Plans reflecting the project type, scale, and community needs. We favour locally appropriate capacity building initiatives that foster sustainable community development.
Investing in local content
We consistently drive local value creation in the communities where we work by focusing on our four pillars of local content, which is applied to all our global Projects:
- Green Energy Education
- Research and Development
- Training and employment
- Opportunities for Small and Medium Enterprise development
We undertake Local Content planning early on in Project development, engaging and collaborating with local stakeholders, institutions, associations and businesses to maximize opportunities for participation in our Projects. Local Content requirements are established in our contracts, ensuring all parties to our Projects deliver local value creation. Our approach to local value creation is founded on respect for human rights.
Addressing community complaints
Community concerns and complaints are expected with project developments, and it is critical to address them early and in a timely manner. We do so through establishing a well-managed grievance redress mechanism for each project, in line with international industry good practice.
